Well my point is: Some people are outrightly outspoken. They say what they see/hear. And it's not hard for them to see that most foreigners who come from non-english speaking background don't have fluent English and hence  the expression of surprise and acknowledgement on their part is justifiable IMO. It's not even stereotyping in the first place. That's why I mentioned it depends on people, places and events. What A_P is saying might apply to a cosmopolitan corporate environment whereas it might be a completely different scenario at a DMV branch office of a southern state.